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Pablo68

Being a bit Judgemental

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I'm sure we all do it sometimes.

My context is, roughly five cars I've bought over the years (off the top of my head, maybe more) that were clearly dungers that I resto-ed/slightly modded back to running order.
While repairing these cars I often grumble to myself (which really could be just a me thing in general) about various things. Like the state of the gearbox, the wiring, lack of bearings, how well it was put together in the 1st place, whether the parts were cut of the sprues properly or have dags hanging everywhere.....any number of things really.

I try not to do this too much as back when I started this hobby at the age of about 16, I pretty much was that guy. And back then, well it was a lot different.
In other cases not everyone was into the hobby as much as some of us, you know, bought a car, put it together to the basic standard of the time, ran it a few times, thought 'meh' then put it in a back shed to deteriorate for the next 20 or so years.

So, anyone else do this?

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I've bought a lot of junkers/restoration projects and I've always be interested in what the history of the car was, regardless if it was good or bad. Not that I ever have any hope of learning anything, but more of a reflection of how the car got into the state it did. How did things break, was it abuse or some random event etc. But  I don't think I've ever been annoyed, just happy I might have a chance to bring life back to something that got used well. Case in point was a restoration of a Martini Mark II body and chassis parts. It had clearly been abused and well used.  I'm guessing it was a younger kids car at some point. The chassis had the middle section of a Mauri Big Bear screwed to it. Liquid paper had been used as paint on the car. Pics to look at horror at! I managed to restore the body though, so while I could get hung up on the torture of a classic, I am happy I was able to bring the body back to life. I managed to flatten out the chassis too, just have to find the time one day to put it all back together :D

 

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Yeah I did forget to mention, I do derive a fair bit of pleasure in getting a car back into running condition.

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2 hours ago, Pablo68 said:

Yeah I did forget to mention, I do derive a fair bit of pleasure in getting a car back into running condition.

Totally agree with you here. I haven't bought a new kit in over 25 years, something just feels so much more satisfying about giving an used/abused model new life! :D

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I agree with most you guys here.

I like to restore almost anything. Guitars, HIFi equipment, bikes, furniture, kitchen devices. I use to tell the wife "I like to find that diamond in the rough", haha. I see people around throwing away stuff that I can fix. Maybe to use, sometimes to sell and buy something that we need here. And when working this stuff I always wonder the reasons why they skipped it, and of course I grumble about these people "not knowing or not appreciating the good thing they had", whether because they did not know how to use it or because they abused it. In the case of old RC cars, yeah, the way they were built and treated. And yeah, I DON'T LIKE plastic sprues that were not cut properly, haha.

Bringing life back to a vintage - hi quality piece, specially something I could not have bought myself, is extremely exciting to me.

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I get really annoyed when I strip down an old model and my fingers get stabbed by bits of sprue that haven't been trimmed off properly.

But then when I'm impatient or in a hurry to get something built I do the exact same thing 🤣

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When I bought my MG a few years ago and joined a forum for them, I was introduced to the term "DPO," or "Dumb (or something stronger) Previous Owner." As in, "Help me fix what the DPO did to my carb linkage," or "I have to replace the whole wiring harness because the DPO hacked it to bits." And once in a while someone goes off on a rant about something a previous owner did, and someone else will point out that it's a 50 year old car, and for most of its life there was no internet to consult and no reproduction parts to order, and that maybe what the "DPO" did was just something jury-rigged so he could get to work the next morning, and it stayed "fixed" so he never got around to fixing it right, and maybe we should cut the previous owners some slack.

I guess I can see it both ways. I understand the "just gotta get it working again" mentality, especially since no one expected these things to have a second life 30 years after the fact. But it never ceases to amaze me how wrong some people can get things. Some of us can treat our stuff with respect, take care of it properly, and make it last a long time, but others can chew things up and spit them out alarmingly quickly, and then "fix" them in ways that make absolutely no sense (and yet somehow work).

Ah well, it's all part of the fun, right?

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I’ve developed a habit of buying bits of cars. Say a quarter or a half. I guess cars that have been abused or stripped down. I then spend ages finding all the missing bits to restore. Bringing back the bits that have gone and restoring what was left. I hope that makes sense. As a result I get a bit fixated on certain cars. So mostly Cheetahs, XR311’s, Sand Rover’s, SRB’s and most recently 3 speeds the Toyota Hilux and Blazer. Ive just recently picked up a Porsche 934 body well most of it. I think I’m in real trouble now ???But I think the common thread is returning something back to what it should be.. 

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Instead of grumbling, I think I'll chant from now on, "I was a DPO efore."  

I don't mind ordinary stuff that we all do sometimes. Parts not neatly cut out of sprues, etc. 

But I am baffled when people force a 25t pinion when 23t is the limit, or hammer in a bigger piston into a smaller cylinder. 

In RC, hammering is not required (usually).  "I was a DPO before, I was a DPO before, I was a DPO before, a DPO before..."  

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I can't stand the untrimmed sprue thing either.

What I have a real hatred for, are incorrect or unmatched fasteners....I mean...if the manual says 3x12 silver self tapper...what in goodness is a 3x15 black self tapper doing in there!🤯

I am a bit OCD to be fair, but hey we've all got our own little foibles. I am terrible for untidy wires, they just seem to be a gargantuan birds nest even when I've just used 30 cable ties.😫

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5 hours ago, Bromley said:

What I have a real hatred for, are incorrect or unmatched fasteners

How can I forget about those! Many times I've come across that, and I don't like it a lil bit! :D

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Yeah my wiring is generally neat.....ish.
You wouldn't use it in a showroom or any kind of display though.

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6 hours ago, Juggular said:

In RC, hammering is not required (usually). 

Last 8th meet I collected a pin holding the piping down at the end of the straight and almost ripped the hub off. I tried fixing trackside but thought I needed  hammer so went home. Turns out I just needed to look properly and loosen the grubs screws (that are everywhere) that was holding the pin in. You only need a hammer when maintenance has been neglected for so long bearings are falling apart and you need to get the inner race bit off the hub.

So I have legitamately used a hammer because of the previous owner, but also used them because of my own stupidity. Not sure what that says about me!

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